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Making A Budget For Living On One Income
from: Karlie BestlerIf you suddenly find yourself having to be a single mother and the main earner in your family, getting a handle on your expenses and budget can be difficult, especially if your weren't the one who took care of the bills. You could try to figure it out on your own, or you could get budgeting nformation for single mothers to help you. You need to know how much you are spending each month so you can determine if you have enough money to cover your expenses.
Make a list of every monthly expense your family incurs so that you will have a realistic picture of your household expenses. These are three of the major budget items for you to figure out.
Housing Expenses
Is your current housing affordable for you on your income? Can you maintain your current housing on your own? For example, if you have just gone through a divorce or death, you may want to keep the house you shared with your ex, but you need to figure out whether or not that is reasonable on your own.
Can you afford the house on your own? Do you want to keep up with all the home maintenance and yard work that will be required? Would it be less expensive and less work to move to a townhouse with a small yard and little maintenance or to an apartment with no yard work and you are not be responsible for the maintenance?
Child Care Expenses
If you haven't been working, you may find yourself having to go back into the workforce. Childcare may be a new expense for you. You will find that reliable childcare is not cheap and will make a big impact on your budget.
Car Expenses
If you have a big car payment, you may need to think about downsizing your vehicle. New, expensive cars can be very costly between the monthly car payment and the insurance. Sometimes scaling back to an slightly older model can save you a lot of money. How long you have owned your car and number of payments that still need to be made are two big factors in whether or not you will be able to downsize.
Other Expenses
Take stock of all of your other bills. Once you know all your expenses, compare them to your income. If your expenses are more than your income, you will have to figure out how to reduce your expenses. Are there some expenses you can get rid of now? Are there bills you can reduce such as the cable bill? Can you find ways to spend less each month on groceries? Look for ways to cut costs and be sure that you know exactly where your money goes each month.
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